Sarasota company hoping to make bid for Hostess

A local investment company said Monday it plans to make a multimillion bid for the Hostess bakery line, which includes iconic brands such as Wonder Bread and Twinkies snack food.

But Hurst Capital LLLP acknowledges that winning what is likely to be a bidding war in federal bankruptcy court will be an uphill climb.

"It's true, we don't have any experience in consumer brands," Austin Hurst, Hurst Capital's managing general partner, said Monday. "And this would be the biggest deal we've ever done."

In addition to what is expected to be intense competition from the likes of Flowers Foods Inc., Sara Lee Corp. and private equity firms for Hostess Brands Inc., Hurst Capital will be saddled with its own lack of big deal experience.

The company, which is run by 26-year-old Austin Hurst and his twin brother, Zach, has never done an acquisition larger than about $1 million.

Hostess, by comparison, could easily trade for 300 to 500 times that amount.

Still, Austin Hurst describes Hostess as a "compelling acquisition."

"I don't think the Hostess brands have lost their integrity," he said. "They're iconic brands. Wonder Bread is the No. 1 selling brand of white bread in the country. It's a win-win opportunity."

Hurst said he expects his company to be a "contender" over the eight to 10 months that it takes for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to organize a sale.

"I think we can pull this off," he said.

Hostess has begun shuttering its nearly three dozen plants nationwide last week after laying off nearly 19,000 stemming from what it called a "labor strike" with several unions.

The maker of Ding Dongs and Ho Hos, which generates sales of roughly $2.5 billion annually, had filed for bankruptcy protection in January.

Hurst said he plans to raise capital from investors and put together a team of auditors, turn-around experts, accountants and others.

Though the investment fund partners — who launched the successful 1Dawg.com website a few years ago, before it shut down after bleeding money — admit they do not have the capital to make a run for Hostess alone, they said obtaining investors should not be a problem.

"We run in those circles," Hurst said.

Since the demise of the 1Dawg site, the Hursts have been backers of Dominant Design Group, Cloud DVI and Empirical Sports — all mostly tech start-ups.

Hurst's biggest fame locally, however, has come from a failed investment in Tampa-based Savtira Corp., an Internet-based marketing firm.

Hurst had invested in Savtira, a firm created by Timothy M. Roberts — who also founded the now defunct Infinium Labs in Sarasota — after it pledged exclusive rights to use a digital store platform Savtira was developing.

But after investing $300,000, Hurst contends Savtira failed to live up to their agreement. The two sides continue to fight each other in court.